DVD: Color it a must-see

'Orange Is the New Black' is out on DVD, Blu-ray

Netflix
The DVD set includes making-of featurettes, commentaries on two of the 13 episodes and a blooper reel.

Paramount

Netflix
Taylor Schilling is part of the strong ensemble cast on “Orange Is the New Black.”

Among the original shows bypassing broadcast TV and cable for online distribution, "House of Cards" on Netflix generated the biggest early buzz. But in terms of admiration it was soon eclipsed by "Orange Is the New Black."

Where "House" is a smart, twisty drama highlighted by Kevin Spacey's lead performance, "Orange" is something different, and more: less predictable, more interested in its characters, vivid and violent but in ways that owed more to logic and circumstance than to pulp fiction. And set in a women's prison, it is a great showcase for an ensemble of actresses diverse in age and ethnicity.

The series begins its second season on Netflix on June 6, but those without that streaming service can wallow in the first season on DVD. The 13-episode set is available from Lionsgate for about $40 on either DVD or Blu-ray.

Based on the memoir by Piper Kerman, the series stars Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman, an educated and privileged woman whose participation in a drug-smuggling scheme has led her to federal prison. Inside, she finds a complicated and often nasty world with inmates engaged in various struggles for self-fulfillment, redemption, power within the prison structure, or simple survival.

Over the course of the series, the events that brought them here are often seen in flashback, creating sympathy for some but more often understanding of why people do what they do — even when their reasons are terribly wrong.

And even as we are drawn into the inmates' lives, we see what is going on with the guards, the prison administrators, and outside the walls, Piper's boyfriend (Jason Biggs). Created by Jenji Kohan (Weeds), it is profane, complicated, surprisingly funny even at its most brutal, and very, very watchable as it makes us rethink the ancient drama framework, the women-in-prison movie. There is also a fine cast, anchored by Schilling but including the likes of Kate Mulgrew, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne and, as the unforgettable Crazy Eyes, Uzo Aduba.

Here's how good "Orange" is: "Justified," a show I often love, had a major character in a women's prison this past season, and it was a largely unsatisfying story because it seemed so lacking in invention compared to "Orange Is the New Black."

The disc sets add making-of featurettes, commentaries on two episodes and a blooper reel.

Also of note

"Her," the eerily engaging love story starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, is out now via Warner ($28.98 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray/DVD/digital combo). Spike Jonze, who directed, also won the original-screenplay Oscar for his tale of a writer (Phoenix) who emotionally connects with his computer operating system (voiced by Johansson). The movie has a lot to say about technology, relationships — and the power of words and the human (or sort-of-human) voice.

Down video road

"Welcome Back, Kotter," the '70s comedy that starred Gabe Kaplan and made a star of a young John Travolta, will be released in a complete-series DVD set on Aug. 26.

"Helix: The Complete First Season" will be on Blu-ray and DVD on July 1.

"Low Winter Sun," the short-lived Americanization of a British crime series, will be on DVD on Aug. 12.

In stores now

A quick look at recently released DVDs and Blu-rays:

"I Love Lucy — Ultimate Season One": New Blu-ray includes the first episodes of the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz series.

"Desert Riders": The story of human trafficking behind camel racing.

"Republic of Doyle, Season 1": Follows a father (Sean McGinley) and son (Allan Hawco) sleuthing team.